Spring hinge supporting means for power housing



March 26, 1968 H. A. J. DE vos 3,374,919

SPRING HINGE SUPPORTING MEANS FOR POWER HOUSING Filed June 23, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 g I E 0 as l \fill 48' HENDRIK A. J. deVOS 3 INVENTOR.

BY .C M/

ATTORN Y March 26, 1968 H. A. J. DE v os 3,374,919

S?RING HINGE SUPPORTING MEANS FOR POWER HOUSING Filed June 23, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet FIG.4-

HENDRIK A- J- deVOS INVENTOR.

TTORN Y United States Patent M 3,374,919 7 SPRING HINGE SUPPORTING MEANS FOR POWER HOUSING Hendrik A. J. de Vos, Wenham, Mass., assignor to Sylvania Electric Products Inc., a corporation of Delaware Filed June 23, 1966, Ser. No. 559,863 7 Claims. (Cl. 220-35) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An arrangement for supporting a power housing from the arm of a luminaire in which a spring hinge secured at one end thereof to the power housing is rotatably supported intermediate its ends in hinge hooks mounted on said arm.

This invention relates to lighting fixtures and more particularly to those designed primarily for outdoor applications.

In recent years, are discharge lamps, such as mercury lamps for example, have been replacing some of the standard incandescent light sources in many outdoor applications and in particular in street lighting, parking lots and factory sites for example. This trend to the greater use of a different light source has necessitated the development of a whole new line of lighting fixtures, due primarily to the fact that certain electrical control apparatus is required for use with mercury lamps but not with conventional incandescent lamps. More particularly,.a mercury lamp installation must include a ballast, a capacitor and associated electrical wiring, none of which are required in the conventional incandescent installations. Although a number of different arrangements have been designed and developed to contain or house this auxiliary electrical control equipment, it has been generally recognized that there is substantial room for improvement.

Some mercury lamps, outdoor luminaires have reasonably satisfactory arrangements for housing this auxiliary electrical control apparatus, both from a functional and an aesthetic viewpoint. However, they leave much to be desired from a maintenance viewpoint.

From time to time it is necessary for a maintenance man to climp the pole and open the fixture to expose the electrical control apparatus in order to locate the source and nature of a malfunction. Thus the electrical control apparatus should be readily and easily accessible, requiring a minimum of effort on the part of the maintenance man. Access should be made available in such a manner that the possibility of causing damage accidentally to any part of the entire fixture is quite remote. A preliminary examination of the exposed electrical control apparatus might indicate the need or desirability of substantial repair work. Thus it is also desirable that the electrical control apparatus be arranged and mounted in such a manner that it comprises a unit which is readily removable and a substitute unit can easily be installed in its place. And finally, of course, means should be provided to enable the maintenance man to carry the defective unit down'to the ground easily and safely.

In view of the foregoing, one of the objects of this invention is to provide an integrated, unitary assembly of electrical control apparatus components which can be readily attached to and detached from a lighting fixture or luminaire.

Another object of this invention is to provide a mounting arrangement for the electrical control apparatus components which includes a safety device designed to practically eliminate the possibility of accidental damage being inflicted either on the control apparatus itself or other components of the lighting fixture.

3,3 74,919 Patented Mar. 26, 1968 A further object of this invention is to provide some sort of handle for the above-described unit whereby a maintenance man working On a .pole can handle the unit easily and safely.

These and other objects, advantages and features are attained, in accordance with the principles of this invention, by providing a luminaire with a power housing having a flexible hinge mounted on one end thereof. This hinge is disposed in cooperative relationship with respect to the main fixture chassis or arm with which it is associated in such a manner that it may be attached thereto or detached therefrom quickly, easily and positively. The hinge is designed in such a manner that, in cooperation with the arm from which it is supported, it will automatically brake itself at a certain pre-determined safe locus to pre vent further swinging of the power housing about the hinge at a pivot to a point where damage to the power housing itself or other components of the luminaire might occur.

-In a specific embodiment of this invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, FIGURE 1 is a side eievational view of a luminaire with the power housing thereof shown in solid in the closed position and in phantom in the openposition.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary detail of the spring hinge which supports the power housing from the main body of the luminaire and looking in the direction 2-2 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional detail looking in the direction 3-3 of FIGURE 2, showing particularly the disposition of the spring hinge and associated parts with the power housing in the closed position with respect to the main body of the luminaire.

FIGURE 4 is a vew similar to FIGURE 3 but with the power housing in the open position.

The luminaire illustrated in FIG. 1 comprises an arm 10 having a bracket '12 at one end thereof and an adapter 14 at the other end thereof. The bracket 12 provides a means through which the arm 10 is supported from pole .16. The adapter 14 provides a means for supporting a reflector 18 and a refractor 20. A photoelectric control device 22 is mounted on top of the arm 10 and is connected to electrical control apparatus located within the arm.

The arm 10 comprises a channel 24, a cover 26 and a power housing 28. In a preferred embodiment the channel 24 and the cover 26 are extruded members assembled and secured to one another by a tongue and groove arrangement. The power housing 28 is pivotally mounted at one end thereof at 30 on the cover 26 by means of a spring hinge to be described more fully below. The other end of the power housing is provided with a thumb screw 32 for securing it to an inner projection (not shown) of bracket 12.

A specific embodiment of the flexible hinge of this invention is illustrated in FIGS. 24. A spring hinge, identified generally by the reference number 34, is fixedly mounted at one end thereof in a mounting plate 36 attached to an end of power housing 28. The spring hinge 34 is pivotally mounted intermediate its ends in a pair of spaced hinge hooks 38 mounted on the inside face of cover 26 near the end thereof adjacent to the hinged end of the power housing 28. To provide clearance for the spring hinge 34 during opening and closing of the power housing 28, swinging about pivot 30, the cover 26 is provided with a pair of elongated slots 27 formed therein as .shown particularly in FIG..2.

The spring hinge 34 is specially designed and shaped to serve'several'functions and purposes as outlined generallyaboveand as will be described in detail below. One end of the spring hinge 34 is shaped to define a bail 40.

The intermediate portion thereof is provided with loops 42 which define and function as torsion springs. The other end of the spring hinge 34 is somewhat rectangular in shape, as seen in FIG. 2, in that it is characterized by intermediate lateral arms 44, longitudinal arms 46 and terminal lateral arms 48. The intermediate lateral arms 44 extend through the hinge hooks 38 and thus define the particular segments of the spring hinge 34 by means of which the power housing 28 is hung from the cover 26. The longitudinal arms 46 are in register with slots 27 in cover 26 and move therethrough during opening and closing of the power housing 28. The terminal lateral arms 48 are secured in mounting plate 36 which, as noted above, is attached to the power housing 28.

The power housing 28 is closed with respect to the arm 18 as shown particularly in FIGS. 1 and 3. When a malfunction is detected and the attention of a maintenance man is required, he need bring no tools with him when he climbs the pole because no tools are required to either open the power housing or remove it and replace it with another one. Loosening of the thumb screw 32 (FIG. 1) is all that is required to free one end of the power housing 28 and permit it to swing open about its pivot 30 to the phantom position as shown. Although it comprises no part of this invention, it may be noted at this point that the electrical control apparatus mounted in the power housing 28 automatically disconnects itself electrically from associated components inside the channel 24 when the power housing 28 drops away as shown. It should also be noted that the power housing 28 is hinged so that it swings away from the pole 16 and not against it. Thus damage to the power housing due to banging against the pole is obviated.

One of the features of the spring hinge 34 of this invention is a braking action which arrests the movement of the power housing 28 as it swings to the open position. This prevents damage to the power housing and/ or the refractor 20. Description of this feature will be with particular reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. The disposition of the spring hinge 34 when the power housing 28 is in the closed position is shown in FIG. 3. The disposition of the spring hinge 34 when the power housing 28 is in the open position is shown in FIG. 4. When the thumb screw 32 has been loosened sufficiently to free the power housing 28 from attachment to the bracket 12, the power housing falls, swinging in an arc and rotating on the lateral arms 44 of the spring hinge 34 within the hinge hooks 38. During this rotational movement, the longitudinal arms 46 of the spring hinge 34 move through the slots 27 provided therefor in cover 26 and the bail of t the spring hinge is displaced from the FIG. 3 position to the FIG. 4 position, i.e., from a position intermediate wall 23 of channel 24 and cover 26 to a position where it is bearing against wall 23. With the bail 40 now bearing against wall 23 of channel 24 the free fall of the power housing 28 is terminated and the force exerted thereby is translated into a loading of the loops 42 which now function as torsion springs to brake the movement of the power housing and terminate it a safe distance away from the reflector-refractor assembly as shown in phantom in FIG. 1.

The electrical control apparatus in the power housing is now adequately exposed for examination by the maintenance man. If repairs to the power housing are to be made on the spot, the loaded torsion springs tend to maintain the power housing in a relatively stationary position even when the maintenance man is working thereon, thus giving him something similar to a stable work bench. If, on the other hand, the maintenance man finds it desirable or necessary to remove the faulty power housing and replace it, the spring hinge is designed and shaped to make this a very simple operation. The power housing 28 is elevated sufiiciently from its FIG. 4 position so that the lateral arms 44 of the spring hinge 34 may be withdrawn from engagement w th the hinge hooks 38. The power 4 housing 28 is then withdrawn and the bail 40 of the spring hinge 34 provides a convenient handle by means of which the maintenance man can carry the power hous- Installation of a replacement power housing may be effected just as readily. The bail 40 of the spring hinge 34 provides a convenient handle for the maintenance man to carry the unit up the pole. The power housing is located in position by inserting it, bail end first, into the chamber defined by the channel 24 and the cover 26 a distance sufiicient to line up the lateral arms 44 of the spring hinge 34 with the hinge hooks 38. It is then dropped into position with the lateral arms 44 interlocking with the hinge hooks 38. The other end of the power housing 28 is swung up into abutting relationship with the channel 24 and the thumb screw 32 is tightened to secure this end of the unit to the bracket 12.

While there has been shown and described what is at present considered the preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention as defined by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

I. A luminaire comprising:

an arm having a chamber defined therein by an upper wall, a lower wall and a pair of connecting side walls, said upper wall being of greater extension than said lower wall;

a power housing;

and means for supporting said power housing from said arm, said means comprising:

hinge hooks mounted in said lower wall inside said chamber at one end thereof, and a spring hinge rotatably supported intermediate its ends in said hinge hooks, said spring hinge being fixedly secured at one end thereof to an end of said power housing and the other end of said spring hinge being normally free and being located within said chamber and spaced from the upper and lower walls thereof.

2. The combination of claim 1 in which said spring hinge includes a pair of laterally extending arms which extend through said hinge hooks and are rotatable there- 3. The combination of claim 2 in which said spring hinge includes a pair of torsion springs formed therein between said pair of laterally extend-ing arms and the aforesaid free end thereof.

4. The combination of claim 3 in which said free end of said spring hinge is shaped to define a bail.

5. The combintion of claim 1 and means for braking the movement of said power housing as it rotates on said hinge hooks from a closed to an open position.

6. The combustion of claim 5 in which said braking means include a pair of torsion springs formed in said spring hinge intermediate the ends thereof.

7. The combination of claim 4 in which said bail, normally spaced from the upper and lower walls of said chamber, is displaced into bearing engagement with the upper wall of said chamber during movement of said power housing from closed to open position thereby placing a load on said torsion springs and thus eifecting a braking of the said movement of said power housing.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2385,364 9/1945 Larson 22034 2,923,429 2/1960 Schneider 22034 3,052,372 9/1962 Shepherd 16192 RAPHAEL H. SCHWARTZ, Primary Examiner.

THERON E. CONDON. Examiner. 

